A Lehigh team that had won seven of its last nine games after a 5-18 start never sustained any offense Tuesday. The Mountain Hawks managed only four hits, two of which came from shortstop John Elson.

Lehigh's large contingent of Morning Call-area players was among those that struggled to solve Milley. The sophomore had allowed 15 hits and nine runs over 10 1/3 innings before Tuesday but ripped through Lehigh's lineup three times with little trouble.

"It was one of those midweek games, we're both coming off an emotional series over the weekend, and I give both pitchers credit," Lehigh coach Sean Leary said. "They were around the zone and forcing contact, but we've had a tremendous amount of energy all season.

"I thought we came out a little bit flat today, but with the long season, I guess that's going to happen once in a while."

The absence of leadoff hitter Justin Pacchioli (Nazareth) may have contributed to Lehigh's lackluster day. He had started each of Lehigh's 32 games before Tuesday but woke up feeling ill, leaving the Mountain Hawks (12-21) without one of their most consistent bats.

Milley made Lehigh's bats look sickly most of the afternoon. He walked none and struck out seven over his seven innings.

Lehigh freshman John Fitz pitched well for four innings before running into trouble in the fifth. A leadoff walk to Joe Giacchino started a three-run inning that ended with Delaware leading 4-0.

Gary Jones provided the biggest blow for the Blue Hens, crushing a two-run homer to left field to knock Fitz from his first collegiate start. Fitz entered Tuesday having pitched just 4 1/3 innings over four relief appearances.

Lehigh's lone inning with multiple baserunners was the seventh, when a one-out triple by Elson, a walk and an error allowed the Mountain Hawks to score. Milley shut down the threat with a strikeout of Mackey Price, and Lehigh never managed another base runner.

"I think he just had a good mix of pitches, and he was constantly pounding the zone and getting ahead in the counts," Garzillo said. "It's always hard when a guy's just pounding the zone. You've got to be swinging the bat.

"We were putting some good swings on the ball, but it just seemed that it was right at people sometimes."

Lehigh has five more games at Legacy Park this week, including four huge ones over the weekend against Navy. Holy Cross and Navy are tied for the Patriot League lead at 8-4, with Lehigh one game back at 7-5. All six Patriot League teams have two four-game series remaining to try to qualify for the four-team league tournament in May.

"We feel great about how we're playing as a team right now," Garzillo said. "It just seems like there's so much energy, especially in the Patriot League series, that we know we're never out of any game."